Operation Bagration

Operation Bagration was a massive Soviet counterattack that occurred across Eastern Europe from 22 June to 19 August 1944. Multiple Soviet forces advanced on several fronts, ranging from the Baltics in the north to Romania in the south, and the main Soviet push came through Belarus and into Poland. Army Group Center was destroyed after defensive battles at Vitebsk and Minsk, and the Soviets proceeded to push into the Baltics, eastern Poland, and up to the Dniester River in Romania. Over half a million German troops were lost in the offensive, which coincidentally took place three years to the day after the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa; Bagration effectively negated the gains made in Barbarossa. The Soviets succeeded in pushing the Germans back, and the operation was a major victory for the Allied Powers against the Axis Powers. By the end of 1944, Soviet forces were advancing into Hungary and western Poland.